The New Hunter(ReWrite)
by ricojohn
Summary: Clark Murphy is a loner. She lost her only family to monster and is out for vengeance when she is offered a new chance at family but the fates are cruel. Can Clark survive in the hunt or is will it cause nothing but pain for the demi God? Summery sucks but give it a try. Complete! M for descriptive violence and implied moments of intensity not appropriate for young audiences.


A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: Just another idea, I wanted to re-wright this story for a while with some big changes so hear I go!

Enjoy!

POV: Clark

I was lying on my stomach, feeling the warm sunlight on my back.

'At least Apollo's in a good mood.' I thought bitterly as I adjusted the way my cheek rested on the stock of my hunting rifle.

It wasn't anything fancy, just a carbon fiber stock wrapped around bolt action mechanism that fires 308 ammunitions.

The ammo isn't hard to get, especially being that I make it myself. My mother showed me how to make gunpowder and smelt meatless. Once I make the gunpowder I use celestial bronze, which is easy to get so long as you know where Hephaestus drops his scraps, and smelt in a touch of steal. This makes a bullet that I can use to hunt deer and kill cyclopes.

I was on the southern facing cliff face on a tall mountain in Montana, aiming at a field about three quarters of a mile away.

In it I could make out three, large, human figures. They were gathered around a small fire and eating some kind of meat.

'Sick fucks.' I thought to myself as I adjusted my scope for the wind. There was a slight western blowing wind.

'Two notches?' I thought to myself as I adjusted the scope. 'Yah, that should do it.'

I then elevated the scope by adjusting another knob.

'There we go.' I though with pride as I once again observed my targets.

One of them had it's back to me, the second was the left profile, and the third was facing me. It was hard to make out details through the scope at this range but I watched as the one facing me chomped down on the small piece of meat and ripped it apart. Its mouth was stained red from blood.

'Fucker didn't even cook 'em.' I thought.

The humanoid smiled brightly at his companion across the fire as his single eye lit up with mirth.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to fight off the memories.

'Not now.' I thought. 'Don't you dare think of that now.'

Despite my best efforts I was still seeing flashes of blood and hearing a blood curtailing scream. My mother's scream.

'Keep it together.' I told myself. 'You need to keep it together for her!'

My eyes snapped open and I squinted my left eye so my right would focus better on the task at hand. That being said I kept my left eye open to alert me to any movement around me but at long range shots like this, it helped to squint it a little.

'Just breath.' I told myself. 'Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. breath out. That's it. Nice and steady.'

I continued my breathing to steady my aim, as I did I could hear my mother's words echoing around my head.

"Take your time." She told me. "You have all the time you need. All the time in the world."

Across my vision, through my scope, I saw a flash of silver as the cyclops I was aiming at clutched his right shoulder and threw his head back in a scream that was too far away for me to hear.

'What the hell?' I thought to myself. 'That wasn't me.'

Then I watched as a group of humans ran from the tree line firing bows at the monsters.

"Ah, hell no." I muttered under my breath. "These ones are mine."

I quickly took aim at one of the cyclopes that was now charging the humans. I led him, to account for distance and him running, and pulled my trigger.

Time slowed.

I felt the trigger release the firing pin and it slid forward at high speeds. I felt it slam into the back of the bullet and the subsequent explosion in the chamber. The felt the vibrations of the bullet being propelled forward down the barrel and watched as it exploded out the front, leaving a small smoke cloud in its wake.

I then snapped my right hand off the handle and slammed it into the bolt, pushing it up. Using the same motion, I pulled the bolt back and heard the spent shell casing eject from the rifle and the next round slid up to take its place. I then slammed the bolt forward to lock the round into the chamber and pushed the bolt down to lock the bolt.

I had done this so many times that I could fire once a second, including aim time.

I then took aim at the second cyclops and pulled the trigger just as the head of the first cyclops exploded and covered three of the humans in blood as my bullet passed through it, before dissolving into gold dust.

The second and third cyclops froze in fear as they stared at where their comrade once was. On the same note, the humans looked shocked as well. They were moving to form in a tight circle, unsure of what just happened and hoping to defend each other.

I, meanwhile, was loading a third round. Once I did that I took aim at the third cyclops as the second's head exploded just like the first.

The third cyclops seamed to realize what was happening and tried to run to the tree line for protection.

'Not today.' I thought as I lead the cyclops and pulled my trigger.

I watched through my scope as the bullet appeared to travel in slow motion through the air, getting closer and closer to the target. I almost felt bad for the monster as it, unwittingly, ran into the path of my bullet. Almost.

The bullet ripped through its neck and the monster dropped to its knees, clutching the gaping hole that appeared in it as its mouth flew open in a scream that I couldn't hear. I also guess that none of the humans could hear the scream either because blood was pouring out it's open mouth. The beast was practically gurgling its blood as it slumped sideways and dissolved into dust.

I sight in relief and rested my forehead against my rifle stock, closing my eyes and trying to get my heart rate under control with breathing techniques.

"That's my girl." I heard my mother's voice in my head. "My little hunter."

I eventually lifted my head off my rifle and ejected the spent shell and loaded tree new bullets to replace the ones I had fired.

'Scratch three more.' I thought to myself in a disappointed tone as I drew my hunting knife and placed my rifle on my lap.

I proceeded to add three more lines into the left side of my rifle stock to bring the tally up to nineteen.

All these kills and I still couldn't find it!

I could see it's face now. The cyclops with the scar on the left side of its face that ran over its eye. Its face was covered in crimson blood.

Anger flooded through me.

This is why I kept going. This is why I lie still for hours, waiting for the perfect shot. This is why I scavenge for food, steal supplies, and sleep in trees for weeks on end. To find and kill the monster that took everything from me. And for what? Because my father was a god? It's not my fault that I was born.

He never even did anything for me anyway. Where was he when me and my mother were captured by that monster? Where was he when I was all alone, starving to death, and freezing in the dead of winter last year? Nowhere to be found.

The gods don't do anything. They just send their kids to die at the hands of these things. Maybe I'd show them a little respect if they got off their asses and helped but as stands, no.

"Well, what do we have here?" Asked a voice in back of me.

I looked over my shoulder to find a wild life preserve officer staring at me.

"You do realize it's a federal offence to hunt in these woods." He told me.

"Sorry, officer." I told him as I stood up. "I'll just go home then."

"Afraid I can't let you do that." He said, shaking his head. "I heard three gunshots and now I see three spent shell casings on the ground over there."

He was pointing at my shells that I had left in the dirt.

'Shit.' I thought.

"Please?" I asked him. "I didn't kill anything, you can go look, there's no animal corpses or anything."

"Then why were you shooting?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged.

"Just wanted to shoot at a rock I saw down there." I told him.

He frowned at me, clearly not buying it.

"Still a crime to shoot in a wildlife preserve." He said. "And I doubt you have a gun license on you, judging by the state of you."

I looked down at my ratty flannel shirt and cargo pants. The beat-up shape of my leather boots.

'Dam.' I thought to myself.

Thing was the rifle was my mothers and I kind of stole it from her gun safe when I left to find the cyclops with the scar.

"Please." I asked the officer as I glanced around for another way out. Unfortunately, I was backed up against the cliff ledge.

It was at this point the officer smiled and approached me. Looking warm and friendly.

"It's ok." He told me when he was only a few feet from me. "I don't think I'll have to take you in."

"Really?" I asked, taken aback.

He nodded.

"I think I get what's going on here." He said. "So long as we can come to an arrangement."

'Is he looking for a bribe?' I though. 'I'm fucked, ran out of money months ago.'

I was about to tell him as much when he reached out before I could stop him and grabbed the barrel of my rifle, keeping it pointed and the floor. His other arm grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me to him so my back was pressed to his chest.

"Get off me!" I screamed as he yanked my rifle from my hands and threw it into a bush.

"You wana go to jail or something?" He taunted as the hand that threw my rifle started to unbutton my shirt.

"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I franticly tried to wiggle out of his grip but he was too strong.

I tried to draw my knife but couldn't quite reach it.

By this time, he almost had my shirt undone, only the bottom two buttons were left and the arm that was restraining me was also reaching into my shirt and groping me while the other hand worked on the second to last button.

Twang!

The low sound came from in back of me and to the left. It was followed by a thud as the officer let go of me and let out a scream.

I spun around and drew my knife to find he had an arrow in the back of his left shoulder.

"AAAHHH!" I screamed as I plunged my knife into his throat and watched as he spluttered and drown in his own blood. "Bastard!" I screamed at him, my voice tuning hoarse.

I collapsed to my knees as I finally took notice of the thirteen-year-old girl dressed in black cargo pants and a silver parka. Her auburn hair flowing down her back.

In her hand was a silver bow and I vaguely recognized her outfit as one the humans who attacked the cyclopes I had killed.

"Are you alright?" She asked me as she approached me and kneeled on the other side of the corps.

I nodded, watching her warily.

"My name's Artemis." She told me as my senses went on high alert.

"Goddess of the hunt." I said as I glanced towards the bush were my rifle was.

Luckily it was only two or three feet away and I could probably reach it if I dove.

"Yes." She answered me. "I sense you are a demigod. Who is your parent?"

"Don't know." I answered, skootching towards the bush, in case she were to attack.

"It was you who killed the cyclopes and interrupted my hunt?" she asked.

'Shit.' I thought to myself, remembering my mother's stories about the Greek gods.

From what I could remember, no one gets away with interrupting Artemis's hunts.

I had to act.

I dove for the bush and reached in.

'There!' I thought as my hand closed around the stock of my rifle. I pulled it out and went to aim it at Artemis, only to have her pin the barrel to the floor with her foot.

She was looming over me now.

"What's your name?" She asked, still pinning my rifle.

"Clark." I told her, glancing around for an escape route. But she now stood between me and freedom.

'Maybe I can roll of the cliff and just end it?' I though.

"Well Clark." She said, pulling her foot off my rifle. "I can see from here that you have a talent for killing monsters. That was quite impressive how you killed three of them at this distance."

"Yah?" I asked as I slowly got to my feet.

She nodded.

"How would you like to join my hunt?" She asked me. "You won't go hungry ever again and you'll have a family."

"Who says I don't have a family?" I demanded, a little insulted.

She looked me up and down, as if to say 'Just look at the way your dressed'.

I felt my cheeks blush.

"I can hunt my own food." I told her, trying to get off the topic of family.

"I don't doubt it." She said. "But what about winter, when food is scarce."

I grimaced as I remembered last winter.

"Look lady." I said. "I don't much care for taking orders. I only do one thing and that's track and kill cyclopes."

She observed me for a moment before speaking.

"I take it one killed someone you care about." She said.

I nodded.

"Then why not join us?" She asked. "Not only will you get the chance to kill more of them, but you can help kill other monsters so other demigods won't suffer the same fate."

"And why can't I do that without you?" I demanded. "I seem to be doing pretty well on my own."

She smiled at me.

"I am not like the other gods." She said, as if reading my mind. "I do not sit idly by as bad things happen to my hunters, nor do I want harm to come to the innocent. So, I formed my hunters. We protect all the innocent we can. At the same time we support one another. We are a family that will never leave you. If you come with me, you'll never be alone again."

I had to admit, that sounded pretty good.

"What's the catch?" I demanded, glancing down at the dead guy who promised to help me but tried to rape me.

Artemis followed my gaze before speaking.

"We are a maiden hunt." She told me. "If you join us you will be partly immortal. You will only die if you are killed in combat but you must also swear off the company of men."

I glanced from the dead guy, to her, and back to officer dickhead.

"Shouldn't be a problem." I told her.

She gave me a smile and offered me and arm.

"Then grab on." She told me.

The moment I took her arm we were teleported to a camp site with silver tents all around us.

My first thought was to notice about thirty girls in silver jackets and black cargo pants all around me.

My second thought was that my shirt was still open after officer dickhead attacked me. I quickly pulled my shirt closed and held it, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

"This way, Clark." Artemis told me as she held a tent flap open for me.

POV Change!

POV: Thalia

We were waiting at camp for Artemis to return after our hunt was interrupted.

"What could have done this?" Phoebe asked. "They appeared to just explode!"

There were several shrugs and more than one curios eye turned to me, hoping for an explanation.

I shrugged as well.

"Maybe the cyclopes had angered a god." I suggested.

There were some shrugs and nods.

Before we continued there was a flash of silver light as Artemis returned.

She was standing in the middle of camp with a blond girl, who looked to be about fifteen. The girl was wearing worn out, leather, boots, a dirty and torn, brown, cargo pants, and a faded green flannel that appeared to be open in the front, reviling her black bra.

The girl quickly pulled her shirt closed causing the thing on her shoulder to shift and glint in the sunlight.

'Is that a rifle?' I thought to myself. 'That won't do any good against monsters.'

The girl was glancing from face to face of the hunters that surrounded her when Artemis spoke.

"This way, Clark." She said.

The girl, who I guessed was Clark, followed Artemis into the tent.

"Where did she come from?" Jessica, a fellow hunter, asked.

"Think she's the one to kill the cyclopes?" Phoebe asked me.

"I doubt it." I said. "She didn't exactly seem like someone in fighting shape or powerful enough to make a cyclops's head explode."

"She was carrying a sniper rifle." Sierra, the newest addition to the hunt, pointed out. "Looked like a pretty long-range scope on it."

"Bullets don't kill monsters." Jessica pointed out.

All conversation went dead as a flash of silver light came from Artemis's tent. A few moments later Artemis emerged from the tent with the blond following her.

Far from the dirty girl in rags who teleported into the middle of the camp a few minutes ago, she was now clean, and had black leather boots, black cargo pants, and a nice silver jacket with sheep wool liner. Under the jacket she wore a silver t shirt.

"Girls," Artemis began, addressing all of us. "This is Clark Murphy. Clark, these are your fellow hunters."

She nodded to us as I stepped forward and extended a hand to her.

"I'm Thalia." I told her as she eyed my hand warily. "Lieutenant of the hunt."

She nodded and tentatively shook my hand.

'Shit.' I thought bitterly as I saw the look in her eye. 'Another one with a bad history.'

I could tell it would take a while for her to feel comfortable around us.

So, one by one all the hunters introduced themselves to her before Artemis spoke again.

"I think it's time we return to our work girls." She said, referring to things like, fire duty, fetching water, cooking the food, preparing meet to be stored, sharpening hunting knives, etcetera.

We all nodded and I turned to leave but Artemis stopped me.

"Thalia," She began. "Please show Clark around and get her situated."

"Yes, Mi' lady." I answered as a gave Clark a 'Come on' wave and walked off towards the fire pit.

POV Change!

POV: Clark

I was following Thalia for a minute or so when she spoke.

"So, I thought Clark was a boy's name." She said, glancing over her shoulder.

"It normally is." I responded curtly, not wanting to get into it.

She shrugged, obviously deciding not to ask further questions on the subject, to which I was thankful.

"So, what's with the rifle?" She asked, nodding to my rifle that was suspended by its sling on my shoulder.

"It was my mother's." I told her. "She taught me how to hunt."

Thalia frowned at this.

"It won't save you from monsters though." She said. "What do you use for them?"

"My rifle." I answered.

She looked confused so I pulled out a spare clip from my left cargo pocket and tossed it to her. She observed it for a few seconds before saying.

"I've only seen mettle like this one time." She said slowly. "Kronos made a sword like this for Luke."

"I call it celestial-steel." I said, holding out a hand for my bullets, which she returned to me.

"So, it was you then?" She asked. "You killed the cyclopes?"

I nodded.

"I was on the cliff three quarters of a mile away." I told her.

She looked shocked.

"You can make that kind of shot?" she asked. "Who the Hades was your mother, Kris Kyle re-incarnated?"

I laughed at that, finding the way her electric blue eyes bugged out of her head extremely funny.

"She was a good hunter." I told her. "She said that it's what got my father's attention."

She frowned at that and analyzed me.

"Who exactly is your father?" She asked.

I rubbed the back of my neck, awkwardly.

"I don't know." I told her. "My mother never told me that part. She said I would be safer if I didn't know."

She nodded in understanding.

"It's ok." She assured me. "With a shot like that, I'm sure he'll claim you soon."

I smiled at her, thankful for how understanding she was being.

And so, we continued to walk. She showed me all around the camp. The various tents and where certain things were, though she was quick to point out that the camp moves with the hunt so I was better off remembering what the tents looked like, rather than their location.

After the tour, it was time for dinner.

We joined the others by the fire pit as deer meet was passed out.

It had been a few days since I had fresh meet so I devoured my first piece.

"Dang." A girl next to me commented. "And I thought Phoebe ate like an animal."

"I do not!" A girl a cross the fire said in outrage.

There was a wave of laughter around the fire and I found myself chuckleing as well.

"Well, girls." Artemis said standing up. "I think it's time for Clark to regale us with the story of her latest hunt." She turned to face me. "It's tradition for the new hunters to tell the story of the kill that got them an invitation to the hunt or the first kill they had once they become a hunter."

I nodded and stood up, glancing from face to face of all the hunters.

"Well," I began. "I guess it started when I began to track the cyclopes. Took me two days to track them off of foot prints, slight smells, broken branches, and even urine. But eventually I tracked them within three quarters of a mile. So, I climbed the mountain in hopes of a better vantage point. Luckily it had a cliff face with a line of sight to the monsters." At this point I lifted my rifle for all of them to see. "So, I set myself up and got comfortable, waiting for the perfect shot. I waited two and a half hours for the wind to die down enough to zero in my scope on them."

As I told my story they all listened intently, asking questions here and there like "Who taught you to hunt?" And "But how does your rifle hurt monsters?" but they let me talk for the most part. When I got to the part where I ejected the third shell I stopped. I didn't want to think about officer dickhead, let alone talk about him.

"Thank you for that." Artemis told me as I took a seat. "I think that was the most unique rookie tail we've had in…." She stopped abruptly and stared above my head, her eyes bugging out of her skull.

There were gasps and cries of outrage amongst the hunters as they too, stared above my head.

I looked up to see a light above my head. Black as night with little white dots in it. I recognized it immediately. My mother had taught me to recognize all of them in case I was ever lost in the woods.

Floating above my head was the consolation Orion.

"A daughter of Orion!" Phoebe cried out in rage. "How dare you enter our lady's camp!"

I looked back to the group to find about fifteen to twenty bows drawn back and aimed at my head. The rest of the hunters looked shocked but unsure of what it was they should be doing.

"Just give the word, Mi' lady." One hunter declared as she aimed her bow at me.

"Wow, wow, wow!" I said, standing up and throwing my arms out in a 'Take it easy' gesture. "Let's all calm down here."

Artemis was staring at me and I wasn't sure what was going through her head.

"Calm down?" Another hunter asked. "Your father betrayed us! He was the only male our lady ever trusted. He is a monster and that makes you the spawn of a monster!"

"Mi' Lady, give the order!" One of the other hunters called out.

"Stop it!" A voice in back of me screamed.

Everyone froze in shock as Thalia stepped between me and the other hunters.

"Stop it!" She screamed at them. "Lower the bows, NOW!"

"Thalia," One of the hunters said slowly. "She is a spawn of Orion."

"So?" Thalia asked. "Who was the lieutenant of the hunt when you joined Jessica?"

"Zoe." The hunter, Jessica, answered.

"And who was her father?" Thalia asked.

"That was different." Jessica said. "Zoe's father was a Titan, hers is Orion."

"I don't see the difference." Thalia said. "Zoe was the daughter of Atlas and she died fighting him to save our lady from her own father. She fought for a goddess when her father swore to destroy them." She then shifted to the side and pointed to me. "Am I the only one who can see the tally marks on her rifle. I'm willing to bet that it corresponds to all the monster's she's killed." Then she turned to Artemis. "She swore the oath, did she not, Mi' lady?" Artemis nodded. "Then she's one of us. So, lower the bows."

There was a moment of hesitation before Artemis spoke.

"She is right." Artemis said. "We cannot judge one simply on the actions of their parents." Her eyes locked with mine. "You have sworn the oath. You are one of my hunters and have my full protection."

At her words, all the hunters lowered their bows but I couldn't help but notice the hesitation and glare Jessica gave me before she did.

After returning to our seats on logs around the fire Thalia turned to me.

"Sorry about them." She told me with a half-smile. "They can be a little thick headed at times but they're good people."

I gave her a genuine smile in return. I wasn't used to having people stick up for me. When I was younger it was just me and my mother. All the kids at school picked on me because of how un girl like I was. Always talking about hunting techniques and different rifles. In seventh and eighth grade, I isolated myself as much as I could, opting to hunt, rather than go to the mall. Then my mother was killed just before my fourteenth birthday. I've been hunting monsters ever since. So, having someone stick up for me and offer me a friendly smile was something new to me.

'Maybe I will like it here.' I thought to myself as I took another bite of deer meet.

I awoke the next day to the smell of something cooking over a fire.

Walking out of my tent I found the hunters were eating eggs.

"Where did you guys get eggs?" I asked in surprise as I approached the fire.

"It's called a supermarket." Phoebe said sarcastically as she pointed to some plastic bags nearby. "There's a town about a mile that way."

There was a wave of chuckles and giggles from the girls as I felt my cheeks blush from embarrassment.

"Oh." I said as I took a seat and excepted a plate of eggs from the girl sitting next to me.

"Ah, Clark, good to see your up." Thalia said as she joined the circle around the fire. "You're going to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow today."

"I'd prefer to use my rifle." I said, feeling uncomfortable.

"That's fine." Thalia said. "I use my spear a lot but I still know how to fire a bow. It's good to learn more than one way of hunting."

I nodded and ate my eggs.

Later that day Thalia led me to the practice range the hunt had set up and handed me a bow and quiver of arrows.

"Just take your stance and fire at the target." She said. "I'll correct any mistakes I see."

So, I drew back the bow and released the arrow. It missed the target by about two feet to the right.

"That's ok." Thalia told me as she walked over to me. "Draw another arrow and I'll help correct you this time."

I did as I was told and was surprised when I felt her pressed against my back. Instantly officer dick head entered my mind and I had to fight the urge to elbow her in the gut.

"Straiten your posture a little." She said, placing a hand on my stomach to make me straighten up. "And lift your draw elbow." She continued, using the other hand to nudge my elbow up. The then adjusted my arm holding the bow to correct my aim.

I could feel her breath on the back of my neck and felt my face heat up. My stomach was in nots and I could feel my heart rate skyrocket.

"Ok," Thalia told me. "You're good to go."

I nodded and released the arrow.

It hit the target on the ring just outside the bullseye.

"There you go!" Thalia called excitedly as I spun around and rapped her in a hug.

"Thank you!" I said excitedly.

She laughed.

"It's not a problem." She told me, returning my hug. "Just keep practicing and you'll be a pro in no time."

I nodded and returned to practicing. If you thought I was over reacting the first time I hit the target you should see my reaction when I made three bullseyes in a row about an hour later.

So, I spent the next three days helping cook the food, practicing archery, practicing knife work, and making more ammo for my rifle. Artemis watched me melting down celestial bronze for the ammo one day and frowned.

"You hand make each bullet?" She asked me as I worked.

I nodded, not pulling my eyes off of the molten metal.

A few minutes later she tapped me on the shoulder.

"Yup." I said, glancing up from my work.

"Here." Artemis said, holding out a military ammo box. "It will refill with ammo whenever you go to sleep."

My eyebrows went up in surprise as I accepted the gift from her.

"Thank you." I said before I remembered to add. "Mi' lady."

She gave me a small smile.

"Not a problem." She assured me. "I always look after my hunters."

She got up to leave before stopping.

"We'll be going on a hunt tomorrow." She told me. "Apparently some hell hounds are causing a bit of trouble in Nevada."

I nodded in response.

"Just tell me where to aim, mi' lady." I told her.

She gave me a nod and left as Thalia came over.

"How's the bullet making going?" She asked, looking at the molten metal.

"Artemis just gave me this ammo box that refills itself when I sleep." I told her, showing her the box.

"Cool." She said with a nod. "Our quivers do the same."

I nodded before she pulled out a small object from her cargo pocket and handed it to me.

"Tess," She began. "Our resident daughter of Hephaestus, made this for you."

I took it and turned it over in my hand, studying it. It was only the size of the top part of my thumb with a bend to it.

"What is it?" I asked.

"She called it an I.R." Thalia said. "Iris Radio."

I glanced up at her and gave her a questioning look.

"Iris Radio?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Don't ask me how it works." Thalia began. "But she somehow made a rainbow inside it and set up some kind of deal with Iris so if you push the button on the side it will link to the other I.R.s." She said, holding up another one. "She made one for all of us last week."

I nodded and pushed the button.

"Hello?" I said, holding it close to my mouth.

Thalia laughed.

"You tuck it behind your ear." She informed me.

So, I did and pushed the button again. Static filled my left ear before Thalia put hers' on and pushed the button. The static stopped.

"Hey." She said as I heard her directly in my ear.

I had to admit, hearing her in my ear like that made my heart skip a beat.

"It's working." I told her, clicking the I.R. off before she could talk in my ear again.

"So, did Artemis tell you?" Thalia asked me.

"About the hell hounds?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Good." She said. "Just so you know, when we're out on a hunt, Artemis's word is law, and mine is second to hers."

I nodded in understanding.

"You got it, boss." I told her.

She shifted her gaze to the ground as I noticed that her cheeks were almost bright red.

'Not to self.' I thought. 'To make her blush, call her Boss.'

The next day Artemis teleported the hunt to the Nevada desert and we set to work on tracking the hell hounds. After about three hours Artemis declared they were on the other side of the canyon we were in.

"Clark," Artemis told me. "Turn on your I.R. and scale the canyon wall to get a good vantage. Let us know what you see up there and make sure it's not a trap."

I nodded.

"Got it." I said before adding. "Mi' lady."

I slung my rifle onto my shoulder and scaled the canyon wall to the top of the tall rock formation that formed the canyon. Once I was up there I turned my I.R. on and pulled my rifle up to aim down the scope. Sure enough, there was a pack of about twenty hell hounds about two hundred yards down the canyon, around the bend from where the hunters were.

"I see about twenty of them," I told the hunt through the I.R. "About two hundred yards down the canyon."

"Got it." I heard Thalia respond in my ear, making me shiver. "Stay up there and keep watch on us."

"You got it, Boss." I told her, imagining the blush on her face.

And so, I repositioned to have a better angle on the monsters. I then pulled off my back pack and laid down, resting my rifle on the bag and adjusting the scope for distance and wind.

'Don't forget humidity.' My mother's voice echoed in my head. 'On a hot day like this, you should account for humidity too.'

I readjusted the scope.

I was confident I was zeroed in.

'Don't get over confident.' My mother's voice echoed in my head. 'That's how you lose the prey.'

I tightened my grip on my rifle and shifted it to watch as the hunt fanned out to block all the escape routes the hounds could take.

"You got them surrounded." I told the hunt. "Kick it off when you're ready and I'll cover your backs."

I could see the hunt draw their arrows and fire on the monsters. Several dissolved into dust instantly, the rest attacked.

I thought this was going to be a problem but the hunt seemed to be holding its own. Until two smart hounds used their natural ability's, that is.

I saw two of the hounds retreat and dive into the shadow of the canyon wall, disappearing.

"Uh, guys." I said through the I.R. "Two of them just teleported or something."

"Ah, Hades." Phoebe muttered. "Shadow travel."

Then I saw the two hounds re-emerge in back of the hunt, ready to attack.

I acted without thinking.

I readjusted my rifle and fired a round at the first hound, hitting it in the head and causing it to dissolve.

I then cycled in the next round and aimed for the second hound. It was only a few feet from one of the hunters. She turned around in time for it to dive through the air at her.

POV Change!

POV: Thalia

I was firing arrow after arrow at the monsters when I heard a bark in back of me, turning around I saw a hell hound in midair. It was pouncing at me, claws extended towards my throat.

Then, when I thought I was dead, there was a low rumble noise as it let out a yelp and fell to my right. Blood was pouring from its neck.

'Shit, that was close.' I thought to myself as I noticed it wasn't an arrow wound.

"You ok?" Clark said in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "Whoever it is that was almost killed."

"Yah." I answered. "I'm fine. Thanks Clark."

As I said this I heard the rumble again, that now that I thought about it, actually sounded like the distant sound of a rifle firing. Then there was a wizzing noise past my right ear and a thunk.

I turned around to see a pile of gold dust spray over Tess.

She had a wide-eyed look on her face.

"It had me." She said. "Then it just exploded."

"Looks like you have your own guardian angel." Phoebe joked as she fired another arrow. "Come on girls, this isn't over yet."

We nodded and returned to the fight.

Through the next five minutes there were many arrows flying. The hell hounds were giving us more trouble than expected but we could do it. Every now and then one would get too close for comfort to one of us and would dissolve to dust as the rumble of Clark's rifle could be heard in the distance.

"Remind me that we owe her a drink." I told Phoebe as I pulled out my spear and used it to direct lightning at a small group of hounds that were charging my right.

"Sounds good." Clark said in my ear. "I prefer Sam Addams."

The sound of her rifle firing happened again as a hound's side, that was attacking Jessica, was ripped open and it dissolved into dust.

I felt a blush flood my face. I had forgotten she could hear everything I was saying.

"Keep us alive and I'll buy you a whole case." I joked.

"Don't make a girl promises you can't keep." Clark said in a joking tone, I could practically hear the smirk on her face.

"Can you two flirt later?" Sierra asked. "Kind of need help killing the last of these things."

I blushed again and rejoined the fight.

When all was said and done we had won the fight with only minor injuries that was easily fixed by ambrosia.

So, we set up camp and celebrated our hunt with a fresh roasted pig Artemis got from a convenience store.

"Clark!" I called out as I jogged over to her.

She turned to me and smiled.

"What's up?" She asked, carving lines into the stock of her rifle.

"Just figured I owed you this." I said, placing the case of beer in front of her.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, looking very surprised.

I laughed.

"Artemis can change her appearance to match whatever is going on. Usually she likes looking twelve but for this occasion, I convinced her to look over twenty-one." I told her.

She laughed and reached into the case, pulling out two beers.

"Well," She began. "You should know that I hate drinking alone."

She threw me one and patted the empty log space next to her.

I nodded and took a seat.

We cracked our beers and taped the bottles together before taking a drink.

"You know you're some kind of wonder woman." I told her. "Able to make impossible shots and kill anyone that crosses you."

Her face darkened at that.

"No, I'm not." She said. "I'm a good shot, sure, but in hand to hand, or anything under ten feet for that matter, I can't."

"Sure you can!" I assured her.

She shook her head again.

"Thalia," She began. "When Artemis found me…" She cut herself off, clearly debating on what or how to say something. Eventually she threw her head back and downed her whole beer before grabbing another one and continuing. "When she found me, a man was trying to rape me."

I didn't know how to react to that. I was shocked, concerned, angry at the man, and thankful to Artemis for bringing her here to me, well, I mean us.

"What?" I managed to say.

"He was a park ranger." Clark continued, taking a swig of her beer and staring into the fire. "He grabbed me and I couldn't fight him off. He almost had my shirt off and was groping me when Artemis came and shot him with an arrow."

"Oh, my gods." I muttered, staring at the girl. "I'm so sorry."

She didn't respond, only took another swig of her beer and stared at the fire.

About an hour later Phoebe stood up across the fire.

"Girls!" She shouted to get our attention. "We had a great victory today!"

We all cheered.

"But beyond that," Phoebe continued. "on today's hunt, we discovered something special." She paused. "We discovered the hunt's Guardian Angel!"

There were more cheers as several hunters hoisted Clark up onto their shoulders and ran her around the fire.

I could see the confused look in her eyes. She glanced at me, silently asking me what was going on, to which I shrugged.

Eventually they plopped her back down on the log next to me, causing me to laugh at her dazed expression.

"You ok?" I asked her.

She nodded and laughed as well.

"I think so." She said with a lopsided smirk. "Might need another drink though."

I laughed.

"Now that sounds like a good idea." I said as she pulled out two more and tossed me one.

Time Break!

POV Change!

POV: Clark

I was with the hunt for a little over a year at this point. The other hunters now referred to me as Guardian Angel or Guardian, for short.

Since joining the hunt my kill tally on the side of my rifle jumped to fifty-four. On top of that, I felt like I actually belonged here. They were more than just my fellow hunters, they were my sisters.

We would eat, work and hunt together.

Me and Thalia made it a habit to get a case of beer whenever we completed a monster hunt. It was our tradition and we enjoyed every minute of it. Which brings me to the only down side of the hunt.

I had sworn off love. And yet I was falling for Thalia and I knew it. Every time we crack a case after a monster hunt, practice archery together, work to skin and cook dinner or even just hang out by a creek I would slip deeper into love with her. Everything about her was awesome. She was a punk rock rebel type of girl who somehow wound up second in command of the hunt. She taught me how to shoot a bow so I taught her how to fire a rifle.

She wasn't bad at it either. Sure, she wouldn't be making any three quarters of a mile shots, but she wasn't bad. She could hit targets at up to a quarter of a mile away. That being said I was helping her to improve, mostly by standing in back of her and helping to make adjustments the same way she did for me when she taught me archery. I found that helping her to shoot was hardest for me. My chest pressed to her back and the smell of her hair. She was taller than me, but not by much so I had to stand on my toes to help her learn to shoot.

It was hard keeping my emotions in check. If anyone found out, Artemis would be forced to kick me out.

I wanted to spend an eternity with the hunters, I guess fate had a different plan.

"Girls!" Artemis shouted to gather us in the center of camp. "We have a crisis on our hands. The Titans have risen again and they are going to attack Olympus."

"Again?" Thalia asked. "How long do we have, Mi' lady?"

Artemis scowled.

"A matter of hours." She said. "So, gather your things, we are leaving."

We all nodded. I quickly gathered all the equipment I could need to fight and raced back to the fire.

"I'm sorry girls." Artemis said. "But the Titan army is far larger than any I have seen to this day. I'm not sure this is a battle we can win."

I looked around to see the color drain from the faces of the hunters around me.

"We'll make it, Mi' lady." I spoke up.

Artemis gave me a sad smile.

"Thank you, Clark." She said. "But I feel I must warn you all before we go. This may be the last time we are together."

We all nodded somberly.

With that, she teleported us to Manhattan.

The streets looked like a war zone, debris and fires littered the streets.

"What happened here?" Sierra asked.

"The Titans launched fireballs at us to soften us up." Artemis told us. "Zeus has ordered our hunt to hold the Sothern tip of the island while camp half-blood holds the west and camp Jupiter the east. Us gods are going to stop the main army in the north." She paused. "This is where I leave you. Be strong, my hunters."

With that she teleported away.

"Alright girls." Thalia said, getting our attention. "Artemis dropped us at a good place to hold. I want a perimeter around this intersection with archers in the buildings to fire on them. "Guardian, get to the pent house of that building." She pointed to a tall skyscraper of an apartment building. "Take one hunter with you to watch your back in case you're flanked."

I nodded but didn't move.

"Well?" She asked. "Get moving."

"Waiting for my partner." I told her.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Pick one and go." She said.

"Then come on." I told he as she froze in shock.

"What?" She asked me.

"You heard me." I told her as the hunters all dispersed to their different locations. "And you heard Artemis. This might be it. And if this is it…" I cut myself off, I couldn't bring myself to say it. I just couldn't.

Thalia seamed to understand though. She nodded and followed me up the street to the building.

Five minutes later we were in the building on the top floor pent house. I had dragged a bed over to the window and laid down on it, my rifle resting on my backpack as I aimed out the window and zeroed in the scope to the intersection.

"Guardian Angel to the Hunt," I said into my I.R. "In position and zeroed in."

"Copy, Guardian." Came Phoebe's voice. "How's the view?"

I smiled at the city spread out before me.

"You should see this." I told her. "There's a reason this a pent house."

"Maybe, when this is over." She said. "That is if you and Thalia are still sober."

I heard some of the hunters laugh at that.

I couldn't help but chuckle either as I turned and saw Thalia smirking at me from the comfy arm chair across the room.

"Look alive!" Sierra's voice suddenly cut in. "Monsters, left flank."

I looked through my scope but the monsters weren't in the intersection yet so I didn't have a shot.

"I don't have eyes on them." I told the others. "Draw them into the intersection."

"On it." Tess replied.

I saw a silver figure dash across the intersection as a pack of Telchines chased it. I quickly took aim and fired. I reloaded and fired again and again and again. Each shot I fired killed another monster but they just kept coming. Before long I was reloading my rifle as I heard the screams of my fellow hunters as they fought desperately to hold back the horde of monsters.

As the fight continued I emptied my rifle seven times, thankful for the large amounts of ammo the box, Artemins gave me, held.

"Thalia!" Phoebe called out, sounding out of breath as I continued to shoot. "This isn't working, we're being overrun!"

"I'm on my way." Thalia said.

"No!" I screamed as I continued to shoot the monsters. "There's too many. Fall back to the tower we're in and I'll cover the retreat."

"Clark." Thalia cut me off. "We can't let these things take Olympus!"

"But if they stay there we all die and then there is no one left to stop them!" I retorted as I shot a snake lady in the head.

I glanced at Thalia as I loaded another round. She looked distressed but nodded.

"Fall back to my position." She said. "Guardian Angel will cover your retreat."

"Got it." Came Phoebe's voice. "On our way."

A moment later six figures in silver were dashing up the street towards me, followed by a horde of monsters.

"Where's everyone ells?" I asked as I fired on the monsters, slowing them down temporarily.

"Dead or missing!" Came Tess's winded reply. "Almost there!"

I felt my blood run cold. There were thirty-two of us. Now there were only eight?

A few minutes later they burst into the room and locked the door in back of them. Their cloths were torn and they had cuts and broses all over them. Sierra seemed to be cradling a broken arm.

"This is it?" Thalia asked. "There has to be more of us."

"I'm sorry." Phoebe said. "But this is all that made it."

I looked back at them.

Myself, Thalia, Phoebe, Tess, Sierra, Jessica A hunter named Alexis and Bell were all that was left.

"We can't stop them." Tess said, shaking her head.

I looked out the window at all the monsters and agreed. I didn't even have close to enough bullets to kill them all.

"Hunters," Came Artemis's voice over the I.R. "The Titans have breached Olympus; our thrones are about to be destroyed. Once they are the gods will be weakened and imprisoned by the Titans. Please flea before it is too late. I'm sorry my hunters. Farewell."

Then her voice was gone as we looked around at each other in shock.

"We have to help them!" Thalia declared.

"How?" Jessica asked. "Thalia, you may be ready to fight but the rest of us aren't. We're wounded, tired, low if not out of arrows. We're in no condition to fight."

Thalia turns to me, as if seeking support.

"I'm with Jessica here." I said, shocking the group.

Me and Jessica never got along. She has always hated me for who my father is.

"Please." Thalia pleaded with me.

"We could attack." I said to her. "Maybe break their lines and reach Olympus but what happens then? Six of us against an army? We'd be slaughtered. Artemis told us to run. To live to fight another day. The fights not over. Only postponed."

Thalia looked around, clearly distressed.

"Fine." She said. "So, we lay low here until dark and slip out of the city."

We all nodded and settled down and waited.

The monster army moved past us, only sending the occasional patrol through.

One of the patrols stopped at the base of the tower as an Iris message appeared next to them.

I used my scope to see the image was apparently their commander, a cyclops with a scar running over his eye.

Rage flooded through me. I also noticed a tower in the back grownd of the iris image. It was the tower we were in right now!

I re-angled my rifle and lined up with the towers ahead of me, scanning for him amongst the burning city skyline. Then I found him, on the roof of an apartment building up ahead.

"There you are." I breathed as I adjusted my scope.

"Who?" Thalia asked me.

"Him," I said. "The cyclops with the scar."

There was silence for a moment. There were few in the hunt who knew what happened to my mother. Thalia and Phoebe were now the only surviving members who knew everything.

"Are you sure?" Thalia asked.

"Positive." I answered. "That's him."

"Then take the shot." Thalia told me. "For your mother and for all we lost today."

"What?" Jessica asked. "Are you serious? There is a patrol right outside! She shoots now we have monsters up our asses seven ways till Sunday!"

I was zeroed in. This was the monster that ate my mother alive. That took away the only family I had ever known.

I began to breath, deep and steady, trying to calm myself. This shot was about 1.2 miles. I would need to be steady as a rock for this shot.

'Take your time.' My mother's voice echoed in my head. 'There's no rush my little hunter. You have all the time you need. All the time in the world.'

I squeezed my trigger.

Bang!

The bullet went flying and I watched as a second later the cyclops's head split open.

'For you mom.' I thought to myself as I said. "He's down."

I looked to my right to see Thalia giving me a sad smile and a nod.

"Good." She said. "Your mother would be proud."

"Yah, real proud." Jessica grumbled as she moved towards the door, bow drawn. "You just fucked us Guardian!"

I ejected the spent shell and locked the next one in the chamber before I stood up and walked towards the door.

"We better get going." I said as Jessica glared at me.

"You think?" She demanded. "What gave you that idea?"

I rolled my eyes, now used to her sarcasm and scathing remarks. On the other hand, I had alerted the monsters to our location so I might deserve it this time.

"Alright everyone," Thalia began. "Group up. This isn't the time to be divided. We're all hunters here so stick together and we'll make it out of here."

"Yah, sure." Jessica began. "We're all hunters but leave it to the daughter of Orion to fuck us all over."

"Shut it." Thalia ordered, drawing her bow and approaching the door. "We're all on the same side here."

"Oh, fuck you and your girlfriend." Jessica spouted. "She just signed our death warrants!"

Thalia's cheeks blushed at that but she still looked determined.

"You have someone in mind who has a higher kill count than Guardian Angel?" Thalia demanded.

Jessica stared at her for a moment, no retort came so Thalia continued.

"Then I suggest you shut up and stick with us," She paused. "Unless you wish to die here."

Jessica pursed her lips and waived to the door, as if to say 'After you' to which Thalia stepped through the door and led us towards the staircase.

"We're really taking the stairs?" Tess asked.

Thalia nodded.

"I don't like the idea of being in a small metal box with one exit that dings to let them know when the doors going to open." She said.

And so, we descended through the stairs to the ground floor.

"Where are they?" Sierra asked. "There's no way they didn't hear the shot. So, where are they?"

"I don't know." Thalia said. "But let's not stick around to find out."

We made our way to the front of the building only to freeze in fear. Outside the front doors was a horde of monsters, glaring at us.

"I think I found them." Bell intoned, her voice sounding small and squeaky from fear.

"Run!" Thalia ordered as the monsters started to hit the glass, attempting to smash their way in.

We all turned and ran.

"Where are we going?" Alexis asked as we ran.

"Find a back exit." Phoebe yelled.

"Over there!" Sierra shouted.

We all ran to the emergency exit to our left as I heard the sound of the front windows smashing and the roars of the monsters as they poured into the building.

"Go!" Thalia shouted as I rammed my shoulder into the door to open it and held it for the hunters as they ran through. Once the last one was through I slammed the door shut but knew it wasn't locked. I pinned the door shut and glanced around the ally we were in.

"Get something to brace it!" I shouted as I felt something slam into the door from the other side. It took all my strength to hold it shut. "Quick!"

"Help me move this!" Tess shouted.

I looked over towards her as I felt another thunk on the door that almost made me budge.

Tess had her hands on a dumpster.

"Forget it." I shouted. "It's on wheels so it won't hold them!"

Another bang came that nearly knocked me over but I recovered in time to pin the door shut.

"I can't hold them!" I warned everyone. "Get clear. I'll buy you time!"

"Trust me!" Tess shouted. "help me move this!"

"We're not leaving you Clark!" Thalia told me as she ran over to Tess and grabbed the dumpster as another bang came. Luckily it wasn't as hard as the last one so I held the door.

Thalia, Tess, Phoebe, and Alexis pulled the dumpster over to me and lined it up across from me.

"Tip it on three!" Tess shouted. "Clark, move!"

I ran away from the door as Tess counted down. I barely got clear when she said "Three!"

All four girls groaned in effort as they tipped the dumpster onto its side to block the door. We all stood there to see if it would hold.

There was a bang and we all jumped back, but the dumpster held.

"Good call Tess." Thalia told her, trying to catch her breath.

"Thanks." Tess responded, just as winded.

We all made our way to the end of the ally and I stuck my head out to check for monsters.

"Coast is clear." I told the others. "Let's get out of here."

Time Break!

POV: Clark

Two months since Manhattan. As far as the mortals were concerned world war three happened and nukes destroyed civilization as we know it. Every city, suburb, small town, even the wilderness was bombed. The cities looked like nukes went off, the suburbs looked like missiles rained down, the small towns looked like war zones and the wilderness looked like no-man's-land from world war one.

The Titans destroyed everything and made a sport of hunting down surviving demigods. We took to hiding in caves like animals to stay alive. Without Artemis our arrows and my bullets don't restock themselves like they used to so we were always low on supplies. After Kronos destroyed civilization we couldn't buy food and it's hard to find animals to hunt when nature looks like no-man's-land and we were afraid of being hunted ourselves so we were always hungry. On a good night we might cook four squirrels to share between the eight of us, on a bad night we went hungry. We tended to go hungry a lot.

"Got two squirrels and a rat tonight." Thalia declared proudly as she stepped into the cave we currently called home.

"Ew," Bell said. "Rat, really?"

"Fine." Thalia said with a shrug. "If you want to go hungry then don't eat."

"Can I just have some squirrel?" Bell asked.

"No." Thalia said. "We all get equal per portions of the food, you know this."

"I'm not going to eat the rat if you give it to me." Bell declared.

"I don't give a fuck what you do with it." Thalia said. "But you're not getting extra squirrel because you refuse to eat the rat."

"Guys!" I cut in. "I get it, it's not as luxurious as the deer we used to eat but Thalia worked hard to get us this food. So, shut up and eat the dam rat!"

Bell huffed and stared into our small camp fire.

"If it is upsetting you that much," Phoebe began. "Go out and kill us a deer for dinner tomorrow, it is your turn after all."

Bell didn't respond to that as Jessica and Alexis set to work on skinning the animals to eat.

"Anny sign of other demigods?" Tess asked Thalia.

"None." Thalia said. "I think we might be it. We haven't seen the faintest trail or heard even the slightest roomer of other demigods in over a month."

"Maybe they are in hiding like us." Sierra offered.

"Maybe." Thalia said. "But I don't think so."

I gave Thalia's shoulder a pat.

"I'm sure we'll find some eventually." I told her.

She just shook her head.

"I don't know what's worse," She began, not meeting my eyes. "Finding out we really are the last demigods or finding more who have to live in this hell hole, fighting desperately to try and survive."

I didn't know how to answer that. So, I pulled her into a hug to try and comfort her.

"It'll be all right." I told her

"Gods, get a room already!" Jessica commented from across the fire.

I blushed and immediately scooted away from Thalia. Even without Artemis here it was still a maiden hunt. So, I had to keep my emotions in check. I almost blew it back in Manhattan but Thalia hasn't mentioned it so I think I'm in the clear.

Later on, we were eating tiny portions of the meat when Tess spoke.

"I miss the old days." She said. "Back when I had access to a forge to make cool new things."

"Or the comfy cots that Artemis had in the tents." Bell added.

"How about all the food we used to have." Phoebe said, staring at the rat meet on the zip lock bag in front of her.

"Yah," Thalia said. "But I'd kill to get some beer." She shot me a grin. "those were some good times."

I nodded.

"Sure were." I said before bursting out in laughter. "Remember that time you were drunk enough to try and do a flipping kick?" I asked.

She grinned back.

"Well I was challenged to try and drop kick a tree branch." She said.

"It was a pine tree." I said still laughing. "You tried to jump high enough to hit a branch ten feet off the ground."

"Well it worked." Thalia defended her self, still giggling over the memory.

"Barley." Sierra commented. "I still say you missed the branch."

"I felt my boot brush it." Thalia said indignantly.

"Yah, sure you did." Alexis commented with a smirk. "Did you also feel it when you landed on your head because of that stunt?"

Thalia blushed.

"Maybe." She whispered in response.

There was a wave of laughter around the fire at how uncomfortable she was.

It was nice. This was the first time the hunt actually seemed relaxed since Manhattan.

It's a shame the good times never last, sooner or later reality comes knocking and reminds you what's waiting out there. For us, it came in a brief ray of hope, before we found out it was impossible. Two weeks after the squirrel and rat night Phoebe came sprinting into our cave.

"We need to move fast!" She told us, urgently.

"Monsters found us?" Jessica asked, looking worried.

"No." Phoebe said, seriously. "But we might have a chance to deal a serious blow to the Titans."

"What is it?" Thalia asked.

"I found a group of cyclopes talking about how annoyed they were to being put on guard duty in two days." Phoebe said. "Naturally this peeked my interest so I spied on them, stayed hidden under a bush. They said they're guarding 'The little bitch' and that 'She's more trouble that 'she's worth' so I thought it was a demigod that we could rescue." She paused. "Until they said 'But what do you want to do, it's not like we can kill her. We just have to wait for her to fade.' I think they have a goddess in captivity. If we free her, there's a chance we can team up to free the rest of the gods and launch a rebellion of some sort."

We all stared at her, shocked.

"Well?" She demanded. "We need to move now and follow them!"

"Right." Thalia said, snapping out of the shock. "Pack up people, we're leaving!"

We all nodded and set to work, feeling hopeful for the first time in months. We could do this. Free the goddess, Free the world. For a group of demigods, let alone hunters, this was a piece of cake.

Time Break!

POV Change!

POV: Thalia

Two days after Phoebe gave us the news we were behind a bush on a hill that over looked an abandon mine. Groups of cyclopes were guarding it. As best as we could tell, there was one hundred of them that rotated guard duty every few hours and sent out regular patrols to the surrounding forest.

"We can't do this." Phoebe said.

"I thought this was your idea?" Jessica asked.

"Well I didn't know how many of them there were." Phoebe responded. "We barely have six arrows per person."

"Guardian," I began. "How many bullets do you have?"

Clark frowned.

"Not enough." She answered. "I have twenty-four bullets."

"Artemis's box isn't refilling?" Jessica asked.

Clark shook her head.

"I have an idea though." Clark said. "I can follow the next patrol and shoot all but one and wound the last one. He'll call for help and more will run off. If I hold my ground for long enough you should be able to sneak in and free the goddess."

"No." I told her. "You said it yourself, you don't have the ammo for it." I paused. "Pluss there is no guarantee they'll send others if they're being picked off by a sniper."

"That's why I'll get up and kill them at close range." She told me. "Let's face it, to the monsters I'm public enemy number one. The hunter who can kill them from over a mile away and disappear before they find where I killed them from. They won't pass up an opportunity to kill me. I don't need to kill them, I only need to hold them off."

"It makes sense." Tess said.

"They will over run you." I told Clark. "You and I both know you're not a close-range fighter. I'm not going to let you do this."

"Then we leave and continue to hide in caves until they kill us all." She said, glaring at me. "We need to do this. Don't worry, I'll buy you the time you need."

Time Break!

"Guardian Angle to the hunt." Came a staticky voice over the I.R.

"We copy Guardian." I answered.

Ever since the gods were defeated the I.R. has been on the frits. Tess said I was because Iris was captured so it probably took an unbelievable amount of energy for her to even get the staticky connection to work.

"I found a patrol," Clark said. "Wait for them to run off."

Bang! Bang! ….Bang!

"Help!" A voice screamed from deep in the woods. "It's Guardian Angel!"

The cyclopes in the clearing by the mine looked scared before another bang went off. Clark had killed the monster that was calling for help.

"Stay here." Said a cyclops as he got up to investigate.

"Like hell we are!" Another responded. "I want to eat her!"

"Me too." Another said.

And so, all the cyclopes but one ran off to find Clark.

"They're on their way." I warned Clark.

"Good." She said. "Have a drink for me when this is all over."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "You lead them on a wild goose chase until we're done."

"No." She said. "I do that and some of them will get bored and return to the mine. You can't fight your way out. I have to fight them to keep them here." She paused. "We both know this is where I leave."

"No." I told her, putting force into my voice. "You're not dyeing here."

"Don't make a girl promises you can't keep." She said, sadly. "I have to leave anyway. I broke my oath and have been lying about it. It's better to die here helping you then to be banished from the hunt."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked here.

"I fell in love." She answered.

"So live!" I cried out to her, desperately. "Live to see him again! Get married, settle down! Don't do this!"

"Not that simple." She said. I could hear the weight of what she was feeling in her staticky voice. "If I leave the hunt, I'll never see the person again. But if I stay I torcher myself with a life I can never have." She paused. "I can hear them coming. I don't have long."

"Get out of there!" I ordered.

"Good by Thalia." She said in a shaky voice. "I love you." Shock hit me as she paused again. "This is Guardian Angel to all surviving members of the hunt," She said as the roars of the monsters came through the I.R. "signing off."

I heard her I.R. click off as the sound of gunshots echoed around the muddy and decaying forest.

I wanted to run to her. To help her.

'She was in love with me!' I though. 'No, not was, is.'

"Thalia." Sierra said, shaking me from my thoughts as the gunshots continued. "We need to move, not waist her sacrifice."

I nodded.

Every part of me wanted to protest but I knew she was right.

And so, we made our way towards the mine, easily dispatching the last guard with an arrow through the eye.

Once inside we descended to the lowest level where we found several makeshift prisons. In them were demi gods. Not only that but they were hunters.

We quickly freed them but there was no time to celebrate.

"Lady Artemis is in the last cell." Layla, one of the freed hunters told me.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"They have Artemis here?" I asked her.

She nodded as we all ran to the last cell and freed Artemis.

She was calmly sitting in her cell, as if waiting for an old friend.

"Hello Thalia." She greeted as I used my knife to cut the lock off her cell door and opened it.

"Mi' Lady." I greeted her and bowed. "We need to leave quickly before the guards return."

Artemis nodded and followed our group out of the mine. All in all, we rescued seven hunters and Artemis. When we reached the top of the mine we ran for the cover of some bushes as some cyclopes emerged from the opposite tree line. Luckily, they didn't spot us. They simply sat down in front of the mine and talked as we snuck away. As we continued to walk I couldn't help but notice how quiet everything was.

"Guardian, come in." I said, placing a hand on my I.R. to make sure it was on. "Guardian, please respond." Again, there was nothing. "Clark." I said.

Nothing.

"Where is Guardian Angel?" One of the recently freed hunters asked.

"Dead." Jessica said.

I spun around and glared at her.

"You don't know that." I practically growled.

"We both know she couldn't take them." Jessica said. "I'm sorry your girlfriend died but we need to move on. This is not the time to be emotional."

I only grumbled and stormed off ahead of the group, not wanting to think about what might have happened to Clark. I never had a chance to tell her but I loved her too. She was my best friend and fellow hunter. I would sacrifice anything just to see her again.

As this thought hit me I found the one thing that could possible bring me lower. In a clearing up ahead was a large pool of blood. Imbedded in the ground were six silver arrows. Stuck in a tree was a silver hunting knife. And to top it all off, there was a bolt action rifle lying in the mud. On the stock was carved eighty-nine tally marks.

I walked over to it and picked it up. I opened the chamber to see how many bullets were left. There was nothing in it. She had fought to the last bullet and switched to her bow. When there were no more arrows she used her knife. But there was nobody here. Based on the blood on the floor she was either badly wounded or they eat her alive the way the scared cyclops did to her mother.

"I'm sorry, Clark." I whispered. "I should have told you. Maybe you would have thought of a different plan if I told you. Because I love you too."

"Thalia." Artemis said from in back of me. Apparently, she had entered the field without my knowledge. "We will morn her later but we must keep moving for now."

I nodded and closed the chamber of Clark's rifle and slung the strap onto my shoulder.

Time Break!

Later that knight we were camping in an abandoned convenience store. Luckily it was stocked with food so we weren't hungry for a change.

I also found a thirty rack of Sam Addams in the back of the store.

"Anyone want a drink?" I asked as I rejoined the others in the front of the store.

"You really drinking now?" Alexis asked, looking taken aback.

"Clark said to have a drink for her." I told her. "So that's what I'm doing. But I hate drinking alone."

Phoebe nodded and took a beer.

"To Clark then?" She asked as she cracked the beer and the others grabbed a beer each.

"To Clark." We all said and took a drink.

And so, time moved on. Days became months and eventually years. Freeing the others and Artemis didn't help us as much as we thought it would. Artemis was not as powerful without her throne. She also didn't know where to find the other gods so we were stuck. That is until an old friend showed up.

I was sitting in Artemis's tent when Tess screamed.

"Mi' Lady! We caught a male in our camp!"

"What?" Artemis demanded before storming out of the tent. I followed her to find Tess outside with a knife to a man's thought. "Who are you?" Artemis demanded. "And what makes you think you can enter my Camp?"

The man smiled sadly.

"I know I've grown some but you would think you'd remember the guy who saved your life." The man responded.

Artemis frowned at the man who appeared to be in his thirties.

"I was never saved by a male." She declared as I studied the man.

"I took the weight of the sky for you." The man said indignantly.

"Percy?" I asked in shock.

He smiled again as Tess took a step back. She had never met him but she had heard of the hero of Olympus.

"Good to see you cuz." Percy greeted. "Been a while."

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He gave me his signature troublemaker's grin.

"Figured the hunt would like to help take down the Titans." He said.

"Take down the Titans?" Artemis asked. "How exactly do you propose we do this?"

"I would love to explain back at my camp if that's ok." He told us. "I can show you the actual plans that way."

"Your camp?" I asked him. "I thought Camp Half-Blood was destroyed."

He nodded.

"I have a small army with me." He said. "Made up of sixty Camp Half-Blood survivors and sixty survivors of the legion. We also have twenty Amazon warriors and hopefully the hunt as well."

"And this plan of yours," I began. "Do you think it will work? They had an army that overwhelmed all of us last time."

He nodded.

"The army that defeated Olympus has been breaking apart and scattering for years. Now they only have about two hundred left." He began. "So, if we make a move now, while we have numbers and surprise on our side, we stand a chance."

"Since when are you a master strategist?" I demanded in a joking tone.

He smirked.

"I'm not." He said. "This plan is all Wise-girl's idea."

My eyebrows shot up again.

"She's still alive?" I asked in surprise.

"Of course." Percy said with a nod. "You sound surprised."

"We were over ran in Manhattan." I began. "Then we were hunted by monsters for years. I'm surprised we're not the last demigods left, let alone you and Annabeth both surviving."

He gave a deep chuckle.

"Yah," He began. "but after Tartarus, this is a walk in the park."

And so, we gathered the hunters and followed him to his camp where I was greeted by a grey eyed blond woman.

"Annabeth?" I asked.

She nodded.

"You haven't changed a bit." She commented.

"The oath has its perks." I said, now self-conscious about the fact that I look fifteen even though I should be in my late thirties.

Annabeth nodded.

"It's good to see you again." She said and I nodded.

"You too." I told her.

And so, I hugged my old friend and followed her and Percy to a tent where they kept the plans for their counter attack.

"So, here's the plan." Annabeth said as we all gathered around the map table.

On it was a detailed map of the San-Francisco aria.

"The Titans re built mount Tam. Percy will get us some small boats to sail across the bay here." She said pointing to an aria of the bay. "We will land on here." She said pointing to an aria of shore line by the base of the mountain. "Once on shore we will charge the mountain and take it. The romans will make the main assault using their formations to defend against any projectile weapons they might have, like arrows and other things." She looked around the table to make sure everyone was following her. "The Greeks will take the right flank where there is less defenses and draw enemy's away from the Romans and hopefully flank the enemy." She paused. "The Amazons will take the left flank as a slower pace. If the Greeks and Romans do their jobs right then the Amazons will have little to no resistance and should be able to slip through their lines and hit them from the rear."

"So why do you need us?" Phoebe asked.

"We would like the hunt to land first." Annabeth said. "With Artemis's blessing on you your agility increases, correct?"

I nodded.

"Like I said," Annabeth continued. "We're expecting projectile weapons and they will rip our army apart before we can even get off the boats, let alone have the Romans set up their formations." She paused. "We want you all to deploy first and use your agility to dodge their fire and return arrow fire to suppress them while the Romans and Greeks deploy. At which point you will take up defensive position and cover the main assault and support the Amazons as they deploy a few minutes later."

I nodded.

"What's to stop them from wiping out the hunt while we sail across the bay?" Jessica asked. "If they have projectiles they can launch an arrow volley at us while we sail over and we won't have room to dodge."

"Guardian Angel." Percy said. "Set her up on the dock we're launching from and have her cover you all as you sail across in two boats."

Most of the hunt looked confused while a handful of us looked sad. I on the other hand felt like a ton of bricks were dumped on me.

"She's dead." I told Percy. "She died saving Artemis, but she taught me to shoot. I'm not as good as she was but I'll do my best. I'll take her spot."

Percy raised an eyebrow at me as Annabeth frowned.

Time Break!

POV Change!

POV: Phoebe

It was the early hours of the morning, a low cloudy sky marred the day appropriately. For many this would be our last day. Percy had acquired a small fleet of WWII Higgins landing craft and used his son of Poseidon powers to control all of them at once. I was in one of the two lead landing craft with six of my sisters the rest of the hunt and Artemis was in the other one. We were all silent, bows drawn and quivers full of arrows.

"I got you covered." Came a staticky voice over the I.R. as I heard a bullet whiz overhead and the distant sound of a rifle.

Then there were more shots and I knew each one killed an enemy and terrified the surviving ones so they didn't want to stick their heads up to try and rain arrows on us but I knew they would eventually open up on us.

"Waive one," Came a male's voice over the I.R. that I thought was Percy. "Ramp drop in ten seconds. Good luck."

"Here we go!" I called out to my sisters, preparing to charge. "For the Hunt!"

The gate in the front of the boat dropped and I ran forward into a hail of arrows and fireballs. I jumped, ducked, dived, and dogged. Trying desperately to fire my arrows at them and successfully killing a few.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a snake lady aiming a bow at me and was about to draw back the arrow when her head exploded. And a rifle shot echoed in the distance.

'That was close.' I thought in relief.

I spared a moment to look around. One of my sisters lay dead in the landing craft, three arrows protruding from her chest. Two more lay wounded on the beach, still trying to fire their weapons at the Titan army.

Amongst the wounded hunters on the beach I saw one raise a spear before a lightning bolt came down and fried a hellhound as it charged us.

"Nice one Thalia!" I called to her as she gave me a cocky smile, clutching the arrow wound in her thigh.

Wiz, Thunk!

I heard as another rifle round made contact with the enemy.

"Waive two," Percy's voice said. "Gate drop in ten seconds."

I glanced back to see twenty boats bulling up to shore so I fired my arrows to cover them.

"AH!" Came the battle cry of sixty Romans and sixty Greeks as they charged out of their boats.

The Greeks ran to the right where there were giant boulders going up the hillside as the romans formed into a giant rectangle and the center troops raised their shields over their heads to stop arrows and the troops on the outsides used their shields to form a wall.

"Grab cover!" Thalia ordered as Bell supported Thalia on her shoulder. "Guardian, cover us while we grab defensive positions!"

"On it!" Came Clark's voice.

Flash back!

Percy raised an eyebrow at Thalia as Annabeth frowned.

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked. "Who said she's dead?"

"She covered us as we saved Artemis and seven of our hunters." Thalia said and I could see the tears forming in her eyes. Even after four years I knew it was still painful for her to think about. "She's been dead for almost five years."

As if to prove this she held out Clark's rifle, which she had taken to use and make bullets for.

Percy took it and looked it once over before returning it to Thalia.

"Wait here." He told us as he walked over to the entrance of the tent.

"Yo, Leo!" Percy called out as I heard a response.

"Yah?"

"Thalia said Guardian Angel's dead!"

"What?" Came Leo's response. "Who told her that?"

"She said Guardian died almost five years ago." Percy called to the boy.

"Give me three minutes." Leo said.

"Thanks man." Percy said turning back to us as Thalia glared daggers at him. I could tell she wanted to electrocute him for treating the death of Clark like a joke but before she made up her mind the tent flap opened as someone entered. It wasn't Leo though. It was a fifteen-year-old blond girl who was wearing black cargo pants, black leather boots, and a silver shirt.

"Clark?" Thalia asked, looking like she saw a ghost.

I guess in some ways she had.

Clark gave us all a sad smile.

"How's it going Boss?" She greeted.

POV Change!

POV: Thalia, still flashback.

'She's alive?!' I thought. 'This has to be a sick joke!'

But I knew those eyes. There is no way this is possible. She's dead. She can't be here.

"I'm glad to see you again." Clark told me, pulling me from my thoughts. I hadn't realized she had walked up next to me.

"You're dead." I told her. "This isn't possible."

She smiled sadly again.

"I barely got away from them." She told me. "They stabbed me in the stomach and I was bleeding heavily." She lifted her shirt to show me a nasty looking scar that from her right side, below the ribs to her hip, below the bellybutton. "I wound up blacking out. Percy and Annabeth saved me and took care of me until I recovered but by then the Hunt had moved on and I didn't know where to find you. I couldn't iris message you because Iris is too week right now to establish a connection and my I.R. was crushed by a cyclops. We got lucky and got a tip from a Roman Half-Blood that he spotted some silver cladded girls in the woods."

"We'll leave you too to catch up." Artemis said, shooting the others a glance before leading everyone ells out.

When they were gone I slapped her across the face as hard as I could.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I demanded as she held her cheek. "Going on a suicide mission like that?"

"I was trying do something right." She said.

"Something right?" I demanded. "Are you serious? Do you even know what it is you put me through? I thought you were dead!"

"You know I couldn't stay, even if I wanted to." She told me. "I had to go. I broke my oath."

"Then why are you still fifteen?" I asked her. "You should be older. The oath is what keeps you young."

"Because I haven't acted on my emotions." She said, as if trying to convince herself.

"As I recall." I began. "The oath is to swear off the company of men, not love." I said. "Plus, I don't think I'm a man, do you?"

She laughed a little.

"I guess." She said, uncertainty.

"Plus, even if Artemis would kick you out I would go with you." I added.

She raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"Did you honestly think I didn't like you?" I asked her.

"I figured you liked me as a friend or a hunter." She said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

I rapped my arms around her waist and smiled.

"Well, you figured wrong." I told her before leaning in and kissing her.

End of Flashback!

POV: Thalia

My leg was killing me from the arrow wound in it. I was slumped up against a boulder by the water line as the Greeks and Romans made the push up the mountain. Out in the water I could see three more landing craft approaching the beach.

"Wave three," Percy's voice said over the I.R. "Ten seconds."

"Give them some cover girls!" I called out, raising my spear to call lightning down on the enemy lines.

Before I could though an arrow lodged in my left shoulder, knocking me to the ground.

"Thalia!" Phoebe screamed, running over to me. "Cover me, I'll get her to cover!"

"Got ya!" Sierra shouted over the noise of battle, popping up and firing arrows up the mountain as the Amazons ran off their landing craft.

Phoebe grabbed the back of my shirt collar and dragged me behind a boulder as I saw Sierra fall to the sand, an Arrow wedged in her neck, blood spilling from her mouth.

"No!" I screamed, struggling against Phoebe.

"There's nothing you can do!" Phoebe said, trying to hold me back. "Your wounded and she's gone. You go out there you do nothing but get yourself killed!"

"Fucking bastards!" I screamed, ignoring Phoebe.

"Think about this!" Phoebe urged me.

"Thalia," Clark's staticky voice filled my I.R. "Please just stay down. Don't do this."

That made me pause. If I tried to avenge Sierra, I'd probably be killed because of how wounded I was. That would mean leaving Clark. I couldn't stand the thought of that.

"Do you see the monster that killed her?" I asked Clark through the I.R.

"I think so." She said. "Waiting for a good shot."

"Well, hurry up." I told her as I heard the rumble of her rifle.

"Got him." She said, sounding hollow. "But you need to promise me you'll stay on the beach. Your too hurt to continue."

I didn't like it but she was right. Both my right leg and left shoulder had been shot. I could feel the effects of blood loss taking hold of me too.

"Don't sweat it." Phoebe told me. "The Romans are almost the their lines and the Greeks and Amazons are starting to flank them. It's almost over."

She stood up and gave me a smirk.

"I think we did it." She told me.

Fucking jinxed it.

Right then a fire ball landed to her left and sent her flying. When I had recovered from the shock of the hit I looked around and found her lying in the sand and staring up at the cloudy sky, clutching her left shoulder. I crawled over to her, trying to fight my pain, and assessed the damage. Luckily, she was alive. Unfortunately, she appeared to be going into shock or something as she clutched her left shoulder, blood pouring out onto the sand from the stump that used to be her left arm.

"Help!" I screamed. "I need a medic!"

"Thalia?" Phoebe asked, fearful eyes locking with my own. "Did…Did we win?"

"I don't know." I told her. "I'll get back to you once we make it through this."

She stared at me, her expression unreadable.

"It hurts." She told me.

I nodded.

"That's good." I told her.

She looked puzzled at that.

"Good?" She asked in a faraway voice.

"Yup." I said. "Hurting means you're still alive. I'd be concerned if it didn't hurt."

She nodded as Artemis crouched down next to me.

"Let me see." She instructed as I leaned back to give her room.

"Can you heal her, Mi' lady?" I asked.

She gave me a smile.

"I may not be my brother," She began. "But I think I can at least heal her enough to pull through."

I sighed in relief as she set to work.

Time Break!

POV Change!

POV: Clark

"First reports are promising." Percy told me as we sat side by side on the dock I had been sniping from. "We took the mountain and killed all the monsters. From the sound of it we lost a quarter of our forces but they had all their troops here to defend the mountain."

A quarter of our troops? That meant one in four demigods died. How was that promising?

"How can you be so cold?" I demanded. "These are people you're talking about."

He shrugged.

"I survived two wars." He told me. "After a while you accept that not everyone makes it back. Sometimes the death toll is worth it. We took down the Titans today, freeing the world from their rule. I'd say it's worth the sacrifice."

I shook my head and stood up.

"I should go and find Thalia." I told him before he nodded.

"She was on the last bout to return." He said. "She should be resting in her tent."

I nodded and left him, not wanting to think about all the dead.

I quickly made my way through the camp and found Thalia's tent. Inside I found her lying below a sheep skin blanket, a white bandage visible on her left shoulder.

"Hey." I greeted, leaning against the tent pole at the entrance.

"Hey." She answered, sounding dazed. "Doc said I'll be fine." She told me. "But she also cut up my death to Barbie T-shirt and my cargo pants to get to the wounds. I'm a little pissed at that."

"I bet you are." I said with a laugh.

She patted the spot in the bed next to her and skootched over.

I nodded and sat down on the edge of the bet.

"So, you gona stay a while?" She asked, raising a rhetorical eyebrow.

I laughed and took off my jacket and hung it on a chair in the tent. I also kicked off my boots and proceeded to climb under the blanket with her. I could feel my face heat up as I did so. This was something I had wanted to do for years but thought I never could. I rolled onto my side, facing away from Thalia so she wouldn't see my face as red as a tomato.

To my surprise I felt her curl up closer to me and rap and arm around me, curling in to my back and I gota say, she fit perfectly.

I drifted off into a peaceful sleep that night, looking forward to whatever would come next with Thalia Grace.

The End

Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review to let me know what you think.

Until next time,

ricojohn


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